THE TECHNICALITIES OF WRITING PAPERS Professor Roger Jones, Editor, British Journal of General Practice

Basic AIMRD structure Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion

Preparatory work Choice of journal – pre-submission enquiry Careful reading of Instructions for Authors Word Count House style – abstract, section headings, references Figures and diagrams References ICMJE guidance COPE guidance

The title House style Important because of citation and archiving, as well as attracting readers Clarity rather than levity in the main title Clear indication of the methodology and setting in the sub-title Running head Key words

Authors ICJME has authorship criteria Essential to agree on authorship before putting pen to paper Power relations can be problematic – departmental policy if appropriate, otherwise some structure for mediation Gift authorship Order of names Contributorship should be clearly stated and may be printed

Abstract Word count and structure specified by journal May not exactly parallel the IMRD structure Increasingly important as paper short/web long increases Involved in some citation counts

Introduction An arresting first sentence Say enough to show that you know the field but don’t over-do it – 10 or so key references? Tell the story which takes the reader to the need for this piece of research, and end the section by stating the research question

Methods “What the abstract giveth, the methods taketh away” Sufficient detail to allow replication Reference, rather than describe in full, the measuring and analytic tools you will use Pre-specification of end points and analysis (ITT, per protocol, grounded theory, thematic analysis, etc)

Results Main findings Detailed findings Reporting guidance/frameworks eg CONSORT, STARD, PRISMA: the EQUATOR network (equator-network.org) Figures and tables Avoid duplication of text and tables Additional on line material – data tables, questionnaires, interview schedules Specific aspects of the presentation of quantitative and qualitative data – eg numerical/statistical precision, quotations in boxes

Discussion Structured Headline findings….”for the first time….” What’s new Comparison with other literature Strengths and weaknesses Implications for practice and research Conclusion if necessary

Tailenders Acknowledgements Funding source Ethical permission Authorship/ contributorship Conflicts of/ competing interests References – convention, dois and papers – use web references sparingly and wiki not at all

New and contentious topics Open access publishing: author/funder pays the article publishing fee Predatory open access journals Paper short/very short: web long, eg BMJ Picos, BJGP 2-page summaries Continuous online publication Online only journals Open data/ Fair data: prior publication Dissemination – doesn’t stop at the paper